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Remember the Rasna kid?

I got to meet my cousin Madhu, who is based in Lakshmipuram (Andhra Pradesh) after a long time.

After the routine talks, the topic changed to our childhood days. And invariably talked about Doordarshan and the various ads.

I am sure most of those who watched DD in the ’80s remember a series of ads that preceded the programmes. And many of us have a strong recall value of those ads which bring nostalgic memories. Reason being the intensity with which we watched Doordarshan.

One among those was the RASNA ad (an ad that sent kids scampering to parents, demanding a glassful too) which had a cute and chubby girl saying before the ad ended: I love you Rasna!

In the mid ’80s, the Rasna ad was a huge hit when it was played right between the cartoon Spiderman, shown on Sunday evenings. The ad showed a lot of kids drinking Rasna, and included one fat uncle (Umpire Swaroop Kishan) who drank a huge jug of Rasna. The jingle went like “Ras ki rachna Rasna Tarah tarah ke swaad ki rachna rasna RASNA!” (full version in the Comments section)

Everytime they added some new flavour, the ad and the jingle would be modified. The ad showed a cute girl saying: I love you Rasna! (She was one more reason for the ad being a hit.)

Time changes everything. Sometimes, the changes are so drastic that it makes you feel uneasy. Ankita Jhaveri, the cute kid whom we saw in the Rasna ad has certainly grown up! (See photos above) Ankita, now an actress, debuted in the Telugu film Lahiri Lahiri Lahiri Lo.

I knew till this part. From here, Madhu continues the story: For a while, the audience seemed okay with her in spite of the fact that she wasn’t ready to do any glamorous roles. Her song in Simhadri, ‘Cheema Cheema’ set the screen ablaze. But after flops engulfed her career, she hasn’t seen one successful film so far. From Seetaramudu and Raraju she pinned hopes to revive her career but that too failed. But, her career downslide began when she attempted suicide when the unit was shooting a song sequence abroad.

Her career in Tollywood never recovered from that bad publicity. She tried her luck in Tamil film industry and failed.

27 Responses to “Remember the Rasna kid?”

Rasna ad: (Full version)
This ad became a huge hit when it was played right before and during the fifteen-minute cartoon, shown on Sunday evenings, Spider-Man. It just consisted of a lot of kids drinking Rasna, and it included the fat uncle (umpire Swaroop Kishan)who drinks a huge jug of Rasna. Jingle:
Ras ki rachna Rasna (chorus: RASNA!)
Tarah tarah ke swaad ki rachna rasna (chorus: RASNA!)
(music)
verse: Ek packet se ban jaaye batteess gilaas (music)
Rasna ka har zaayeka sabke man ki bujhaaye pyaas!
Ras ki rachna Rasna (chorus: RASNA!)
At some point during this ad’s release, I think the long version had even the names of all the 10 flavours (the 11th flavour introduced, Mango Ripe, was one of my favourites, was added later on and got its own jingle which I quote below. The 12th flavour was Kala Khatta, I think, and then there was Masala Soda (Jaljeera) which was always misspelt as Masala Sooda.) in the verses of the song. Once Rasna became part of the Sunday morning line-up of ads, they added a cute female to the ad, and I believe that girl’s parents wanted more money or something, eventually she grew up a little bit, and they made her endorse another cold drink – Sudha. The ad for this drink went thus: It shows the girl, you can see she is grown up, and she says: Pehchana? Badi ho gayi hoon, na? Aur (my taste has become refined, too)… Sudha… etc etc…. In the meantime, Rasna found another cute kid who was younger for their ads. They got their buck-toothed girl, and everyone was happy.
Anyway, my point was, Rasna added the cute kid to the ad and added the punch-line: I Love You, Rasna!
Mango Ripe jingle: Mango ripe! Mango ripe! Naya hai Rasna Mango Ripe… Koi samay ho koi bhi din Rasna Mango Ripe ka din (mmm yummy) (different ways of drinking Mango Ripe: either with water, or as milk shake – at one point they had the shake bottle free with some offer) Mango ripe! Mango ripe, mazey ka Rasna Mango Ripe! ( I LOVE YOU RASNA!)

At some point in time, Harish Bhimani started doing voice-overs for Rasna ads and started to mention that it was a product of Pioma Industries. And ever since, programs were not sponsored by Rasna, but by Pioma Industries.

That’s a sad state of affairs….I too was one of the few who pestered my mom to buy Rasna instead of Kissan Squash that was a common feature in those days….Mom never gave in, anyway…..

It’s bad to see every ad film model or every beauty queen enter films at the earliest opportunity….and unless they have real talent, they will go no where…examples include Yuktha Mookhey, Diana Hayden, Celina Jaitley……Non Sarters.

it is very sad to note developments in her life. but, this is not exception only in her life, it is common among majority of us. people would never realise to stretch their legs with in reach. always they are after earthly pleasure, which in turn would lead to greed, crossing the social parameters etc. afterall, everybody would see ups and downs in life. One should realise not to be too happy when sun shines and gloomy when sunsets. everything should be received in equal spirit. but, whether anybody would listen? whether anybody would realise?

this is my first entry into this mesmerising blog. wonderful collection of variety of articles.

I remember the rasna ad very well. I used to pester my ad to get me juice in those BIG Glasses everytime she served me rasna. Of course, after a while, I began making the basic rasna concentrate myself and had in as many glasses as I wanted because those BIG glasses were only to be found in the ads and nowhere else!

Coming to the point, I feel sad whenever I read such stuff of attempted suicide. What on earth can force one to end a life that he/she is living? We are in control of our lives and if something can force us to end it, then there must be some equal and opposite thing that helps us overcome it and live forever. I just don’t understand!

This moment I would like to remember Hansika Motwani lead actress of App Ka Suroor – The Moviee, who has been seen as child artist in Hum Kaun Hai (2004), Koi Mil Gaya (2003) and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

She made a comeback as actress with less than 3 years and just 15 years old.

Ankita Jhaveri, the former Rasna girl is a rocking telugu film star now. She has a great life and is a very happy, sensible girl from what i have heard and seen. She will go a long way. The ridiculous story of a suicide attempt was apparently a bogus media hype, trying to spread baseless untrue rumours and gossip. She is from an extremely wealthy and affluent background and grew up in south bombay i think…

hi
well i am looking for old cartoon tv series called
history of man and u can search another name which is
onces up a time -history
well this used to come on sunday then its othe week day some where in the evening
if u search u will get few cilp on net but not the full 30 moives
related with it
if u find any link to download whole moive plz
sent me
my id isalok_ojha_2002@yahoo.com

popularity is something that engulfs people in such a way that they hardly have a life of their own.I truly truly appreciate the vision and wonderful thinking by those people who remain private,despite a public figure.Especially a celebrity has to restrict themselves to so much and I wonder why they have to be chased by paparazzi the way they are.Diana died because of this publicity.On humanity basis also,I think people’s lives should not be so closely followed.
Ankita,simran’s sister monal,silk smitha,all these people have made such attempts because,they are pushed to an extent that people think they do not have a private life,and these actresses feel pressurized,cannot live away from screen,it becomes an obsession and when they cannot live up to expectations,they do the unthinkable.So sad,thanks for your thoughts on this sir!!